Biotech — Heather Chambers

Now backed with $25 million in venture funding, privately held biotech startup Receptos Inc. said last week that it will move forward with an FDA application that aims to begin testing its multiple sclerosis drug in a small number of people.

Leading off this week's compilation of news from around San Diego County: ArchAngel Partners Inc., a San Diego-based security company serving celebrities and executives, said Nov. 22 that it has opened a sister company called Poway Weapons and Gear Inc.

Ned McMahon is not only passionate about the environment, he also plans to nab a piece of the multibillion-dollar, global clean technology market at a time when energy efficient and green building materials are at the forefront of government mandates and funding.

INFRASTRUCTURE: 11-Year Odyssey Comes to a Close

After 11 years of intense planning, California Coastal Commission hearings and related regulatory hurdles, Poseidon Resources is ready to break ground on the $360 million Carlsbad Desalination Project.

CONSTRUCTION: Corky McMillin’s $4B Otay Ranch Community to Be Built Out Over 20-Year Span

It will take 20 years to build and its first phase will have to wait for the construction market to return. The 210-acre Eastern Urban Center, a planned $4 billion, mixed-use development intended to be the focal point of the Otay Ranch communities, was approved Sept. 15 by the city of Chula Vista.

Amid the challenges facing the health care community, and with an eye on continued growth and institutional reputation building, a veteran UC San Diego administrator has stepped into the role of CEO of the UCSD Medical Center.

REAL ESTATE: Tenants Should Know How to Protect Themselves in the Event a Landlord Defaults

While the commercial real estate world has cooled off so fast that it’s on the verge of a trillion-dollar implosion, instability is the only certainty. Trillions of dollars of commercial building debt is going to come due in the next few years, and not every property owner is going to be able to hang on.

TECHNOLOGY: Virtual Data Helps Streamline Processes to Save Time, Money in the Field

As the construction industry recovers from the hard economic punches of the last two years, businesses will look more and more to technology for greater efficiency, better communication, less time spent on the road and on delays, and to keep clients better informed about projects.

CONSTRUCTION: New State Guidelines Set Standards Equal to Achieving LEED Silver Rating

California’s Green Building Standards Code, the first to be implemented in the nation, is expected to improve public health and safety by enhancing the design and construction of buildings through the use of building concepts that have a positive environmental impact.

Amid the challenges facing the health care community, and with an eye on continued growth and institutional reputation building, a veteran UC San Diego administrator has stepped into the role of CEO of the UCSD Medical Center.

Tuesday, November 24

Local builder Cornerstone Communities is moving ahead on completing 45 houses in the Andorra development in Chula Vista after the firm obtained an $11 million loan from Presidio Residential Capital, a San Diego private equity firm.

CONSTRUCTION: Chinatown District Created in ’87 On Track for $2.6 Million Enhancement Project

An Asian-themed district reminiscent of a big city’s Chinatown could be incorporated in select areas of San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter and Marina District if the Centre City Development Corp.’s $2.6 million construction proposal is approved.

The proposed Navy Broadway Complex project would “yield a new front porch with real benefits” for San Diego and its downtown waterfront, said retired Rear Adm. Len Hering, an ardent champion of the project.

Joe Kiley, the new chief executive of Imperial Capital Bancorp, said Nov. 17 that there’s a chance the $4 billion bank could find the capital it needs to stay alive, but he’s not sugarcoating anything.

Leading off this week's compilation of news from around San Diego County: Aldila Inc., a locally based producer of carbon fiber golf club shafts and other composite materials, reported a third-quarter net loss of $571,000 on net sales of $10.7 million.

BANKING: Feds Give Institution ‘Need to Improve’ Rating

Torrey Pines Bank, based in Carmel Valley and with $1 billion in assets, received a “needs to improve” rating from federal regulators because of its alleged discriminatory underwriting at its credit card division.

SDBJ Insider - Tom York

ENVIRONMENT: Trade Group Leads Effort to Secure $154M for Local Projects

Less than three months after coordinating Aug. 4 applications for $260 million in federal stimulus funds for photovoltaic solar power production at various San Diego public facilities, CleanTECH San Diego got the news.

LIFE SCIENCES: What’s Next for Incubating Firms?

Two years ago, Pfizer Inc. dedicated a building on the campus of its La Jolla laboratories to fledgling life sciences companies where they could focus on research without worrying about raising money or buying expensive equipment.

Friday, November 20

Nissan Motor Co. rolled out its first electric car in San Diego at the headquarters of San Diego Gas & Electric Nov. 19, promising customers that their orders should be ready for delivery by late next year.

San Diego’s unemployment rate rose to 10.5 percent in October, up from September’s revised rate of 10.4 percent, and the prior year’s October rate of 6.7 percent, according to the state Employment Development Department.

Thomas Jackiewicz, who has been serving as associate vice chancellor and chief financial officer of UC San Diego Health Sciences, has been appointed CEO of UCSD Medical Center, the university said Nov. 19.

Cubic Corp. said Nov. 17 that its Cubic Applications business unit received a five-year, $6.5 million contract to research, design, execute and analyze a series of war games for the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I.

Wednesday, November 18

General Dynamics Nassco, based in San Diego and the last large shipbuilder on the West Coast, said Nov. 17 that it laid the keel for the fifth product carrier ship it’s building for American Petroleum Tankers LLC.

Carlsbad-based Isis Pharmaceuticals said Nov. 17 that its cholesterol-lowering drug mipomersen met all its goals in a late-stage trial, cutting levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol by an average of 25 percent in people genetically inclined to develop high cholesterol.

High-profile politico Fred Maas, chairman of the Centre City Development Corp., the city’s redevelopment arm, is no longer president and CEO at Black Mountain Ranch, developer of the luxurious, but environmentally sensitive Del Sur housing project.

Americans in need of low-cost health care without the wait used to cross the U.S.-Mexico border carrying little other than identification and dollar bills. But as growing numbers of health insurers extend their coverage into Mexico, U.S. workers are finding themselves carrying health insurance cards, too.

La Jolla Bank, the area’s fourth largest local bank with $3.8 billion in assets, is taking a number of corrective actions, including increasing its capital, after receiving a cease and desist order from its primary regulator.

First PacTrust Bancorp Inc., holding company for Chula Vista-based Pacific Trust Bank, reported net income of $1.5 million for the third quarter, compared with a net profit of $1.4 million for the like quarter in 2008.

A Sacramento jury returned a $16.6 million verdict Oct. 29 against Entercom Broadcasting in the case of Jennifer Strange, a 28-year-old mother of three who died two years ago after drinking too much water while trying to win a Nintendo Wii on the radio.

Business in the North County - Ted Owen

I got the most inspiring e-mail Nov. 4 from Peter MacLaggan, senior vice president of Poseidon Resources, saying the following: “It is with an immense sense of shared accomplishment that we inform you that the California Coastal Commission issued Poseidon Resources’ Coastal Development Permit for the Carlsbad Desalination Project.” What a message!

InfoSonics Corp., a San Diego distributor of cell phones in Latin America, reported third quarter net income of $185,000 compared to net income of $101,000 for the like period of 2008, in a Nov. 16 report.

Friday, November 13

San Diego attorney Ricardo Soto, who has represented school districts including San Diego Unified, has been appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as the deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

San Diego County’s investment pool received the highest rating for credit quality and volatility from Standard & Poor’s for the ninth consecutive year, said county Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister.

General Dynamics Information Technology, which has some 400 people working in San Diego, said it recently won three separate contracts from the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command here totaling $75 million.

Monday, November 9

PacTrust Bancorp, holding company for Chula Vista-based Pacific Trust Bank, reported net income of $1.5 million for the third quarter, compared to a net profit of $1.4 million for the like quarter of 2008.

In recent months, much of the attention on Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. has been focused on its highly publicized proxy fight and the push to get its once-weekly diabetes drug past regulatory muster. Far less attention has been paid to its obesity pipeline, which includes two mid-stage drugs with data due out this year.

Leading off this week's compilation of news from around San Diego County: ViaSat Inc., a developer of satellite and wireless communications systems, reported Oct. 30 that it has been granted an early termination by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice on its Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust waiting period.

The San Diego North Chamber of Commerce has taken a position opposing a rise in linkage fees — fees that are charged to businesses and developers that pull building permits — believing that any increase in the current linkage fees will have a negative impact on new development and building in San Diego.

Nextwave Wireless, a wireless technology company that operates PacketVideo, reported a net loss of $100 million for the third quarter, compared to a net loss of $233 million for the like quarter of 2008.

Amid a glittering, eclectic gathering of technologists, futurists, media personalities, leading health care practitioners, business leaders and scientists, all mixed with a sprinkling of Hollywood stardust, the four-day TedMed conference was held last week at the Hotel del Coronado.

Just in time for the holidays. Thirty local labor union apprentice students from Cement Masons Local No. 500 and a Spring Valley construction firm donated time and materials Oct. 24 to repair the San Diego Food Bank’s aging 65,000-square-foot warehouse.

Officials with the Thomas Jefferson School of Law said they have reaped cost savings and remain on schedule for building a new law school in the East Village even after prehistoric findings stalled construction crews this summer.

FINANCE: State Budget Cuts Force Reduction in Classes

In a uniquely American reaction to job losses and worries, a record number of San Diegans are seeking the education and training offered by local colleges and universities — at a time of terrible budget cuts for publicly financed institutions of learning.

In an effort to help this aging but still active segment, AARP, the San Diego Workforce Partnership, and several other public and private groups designed a forum to promote the concept of lifelong learning